Churches & Religion

Cardinal Reinhard Marx, Archbishop of Munich and Freising, gives a statement to the press in the courtyard of his residence in Munich, Germany, Friday, June 4, 2021. A leading German cardinal and confidante of Pope Francis has offered to resign over the church's mishandling of clergy sexual abuse scandals and declared that the church had arrived at "a dead end." Cardinal Reinhard Marx published his resignation letter to the pope online Friday.

‘Dead end’: German cardinal offers to quit over church abuse

June 4, 2021, 8:19am Churches & Religion

A leading German cardinal and confidant of Pope Francis, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, offered to resign Friday over the Catholic Church’s “catastrophic” mishandling of clergy sexual abuse cases, declaring in an extraordinary gesture that the scandals had brought the church to “a dead end.” Read story

Mons. Filippo Iannone, right, and Mons. Juan Ignacio Arrieta Ochoa de Chinchetru hold a press conference to illustrate changes in the Church's Canon law, at the Vatican, Tuesday, June 1, 2021. Pope Francis has changed church law to explicitly criminalize the sexual abuse of adults by priests who abuse their authority and to say that laypeople who hold church office can be sanctioned for similar sex crimes.

Vatican law criminalizes abuse of adults by priests, laity

June 1, 2021, 8:19am Churches & Religion

Pope Francis has changed church law to explicitly criminalize the sexual abuse of adults by priests who abuse their authority, and to say that laypeople who hold church office can be sanctioned for similar sex crimes. Read story

Usher Antoine Soumakian takes parishioners temperatures as they file in for Sunday service at Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Church, an Armenian church on Sunday, April 25, 2021 in Boyle Heights, CA.

L.A. church sees revival

May 29, 2021, 6:00am Churches & Religion

On the outskirts of Boyle Heights, a remnant of the neighborhood’s historic Armenian past is having a revival. Read story

Artist Alessia Babrow holds the Vatican stamps next to her street art May 14 at the Vatican.

Artist sues Vatican over stamp

May 29, 2021, 6:00am Churches & Religion

One night in early 2019, Rome street artist Alessia Babrow glued a stylized image of Christ she had made onto a bridge near the Vatican. A year later, she was shocked to learn that the Vatican had apparently used a reproduction of the image, which featured Babrow’s hallmark heart emblazoned… Read story

Pope Francis leans and kiss a tattoo on the arm of Holocaust survivor Lidia Maksymowicz, a Polish citizen who was deported to Auschwitz from her native Belarus, during his weekly general audience at the Vatican, Wednesday, May 26, 2021. Pope Francis has kissed the tattoo of an Auschwitz survivor during a general audience on Wednesday. Lidia Maksymowicz, a Polish citizen who was deported to Auschwitz from her native Belarus, showed the pope the number tattooed on her arm by the Nazis, and Francis leaned over and kissed it Wednesday. Maksymowicz told Vatican News that she did not exchange words with the pope.

Pope kisses Auschwitz survivor’s tattoo

May 26, 2021, 8:28am Churches & Religion

Pope Francis has kissed the tattoo of an Auschwitz survivor during a general audience on Wednesday. Read story

American Jews take stock of internal divisions, antisemitism

FILE - Pro-Israel supporters chant slogans during a rally in support of Israel outside the Federal Building in Los Angeles, Wednesday, May 12, 2021. A larger debate is playing out nationwide among many U.S. Jews who are divided over how to respond to the violence and over the disputed boundaries for acceptable criticism of Israeli policies. (AP Photo/Jae C.

As fighting between Israel and Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers raged before last week’s cease-fire, U.S. rabbinical student Max Buchdahl wanted to be considerate of those in his community who are emotionally connected to Israel — but he also wanted to support Palestinians. Read story

U.S. bishops mull get-tough proposals on Communion

FILE - In this Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021 file photo, President-elect Joe Biden and his wife, Jill Biden, attend Mass at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle during Inauguration Day ceremonies in Washington. When U.S. Catholic bishops hold their next national meeting in June 2021, they'll be deciding whether to send a tougher-than-ever message to President Joe Biden and other Catholic politicians: Don't partake of Communion if you persist in public advocacy of abortion rights.

The head of the Vatican’s doctrine office is warning U.S. bishops to deliberate carefully and minimize divisions before proceeding with a possible plan to rebuke Roman Catholic politicians such as President Joe Biden for receiving Communion even though they support abortion rights. Read story